Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 22 pp 9186—9199

Restraint stress of female mice during oocyte development facilitates oocyte postovulatory aging

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Figure 2. Effects of FRSOD on cytoplasmic fragmentation and apoptosis of postovulatory aging oocytes. Restraint-stressed (Strs) and unstressed control (Ctrl) mice were killed at 13, 19 and 25 h after hCG injection to recover oocytes aging for 0, 6 and 12 h, respectively. The oocytes recovered were cultured in CZB medium, and cytoplasmic fragmentation was observed at different times during the culture. Some 12 h-aged oocytes were assayed for expression of Bcl-2 and Bax mRNAs by one-step RT-PCR. (AC) Show percentages of fragmented oocytes after oocyte aging for 0, 6 and 12 h, respectively. Each treatment was repeated 6 times with each replicate containing about 20–30 oocytes. (D) Compares the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax mRNAs in 12 h-aged oocytes between control and stressed mice. Each treatment was repeated 4 times with each replicate including 30-60 oocytes from 2 mice. *Indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) from values in control mice.